Sunday, February 15, 2015

Greg Crawford On Basketball, For February 15th, 2015

By Gregory Crawford--- TV, Print and Radio Basketball Analyst---- on twitter @wchoops @kcsportsmgmt @crawssportsbiz
Crawford's Best Nine---The best present nine teams that play basketball in the six D-1 leagues in the western United States.

9. Eastern Washington----Despite a devastating loss to Portland State at home yesterday, they still belong here as they are leading a very strong Big Sky Conference with three weeks to go.

8. UC Davis----Pretty terrific year for the Aggies, only one loss in Big West play and four losses all year long.

7. BYU---Very tough schedule ahead in the West Coast Conference, as they still have to visit Gonzaga and Portland, but playing really good basketball right now.

6. San Diego State----Leading the best basketball conference out west, the Mt. West. with the most underrated coach in college basketball, Steve Fisher.

5. Boise State----Trailing by one game in the Mt. West, a big win over San Diego State last week, had won 8 in row up to last night.

4. New Mexico State---- A dangerous team, that I am certain no one wants to play in the NCAA tournament. They will make it and at present have won 12 of 13 games.

3. Arizona----Leading the Pac-12, everyone is looking way ahead to the February 28th showdown against Utah in Salt Lake City.

2. Utah----What a coaching job by the other Coach K for the Utes. He has turned them into a powerhouse team in short time period and could win the Pac-12 regular season.

1. Gonzaga----I am still counting on the Zags to make the Final Four this season. Must play St. Mary's on the road this week, in what could be their last stumbling block to running the table in the WCC.

Seattle U----By all accounts, Seattle U. head coach Cameron Dollar is a great person and everyone in Seattle really likes him. He does however have lots of pressure right now, one would have to think. It was suppose to be a good year for Seattle U. basketball, it has not been.

At present the team is 11-13 on the season and in the weak WAC Conference, the Redhawks have lost 5 out of their last 6. The Redhawks come home to for three straight to finish the regular season.

Dollar took over at Seattle U in 2009-10, which was his only winning season at the school, which has one of the most iconic histories in college basketball. Since joining the WAC Conference in 2012-13, the Redhawks have gone 12-32 to date in Conference games. Those are not numbers anyone associated with the program likes to see for a team that plays its home games on Baylor Court, named after Elgin Baylor, one of the NBA's top 50 players of all time and star player at Seattle U.

Crawford's NWAC Women's BB Power Rankings---- It is Sunday, so time for another edition of Crawford's NWAC women's basketball power rankings. Big shake up from 4 down this week, as we always do things in 9s out of respect for the great game of golf.

Adam Silver----I am always amazed at how much criticism, NBA commissioner Adam Silver gets, all the way down to his looks, which is pathetic to say the least.

Adam Silver deserves a chance to build his own agenda since taking over for David Stern, just over a year past. It is obvious that Silver wants to be more inclusive than Stern, who ran the league with an iron fist, to put it mildly.

If you really listen to Silver, many of his ideas make lots of sense, such as changing the NBA schedule to bring more rest for players and referees, raising the age limit to 20 and legalizing sports betting.

Of course the greatest challenge for Silver will come in 2017, when the NBA will almost certainly face a labor stoppage, as 2017 is the first year that either management or the players union can try to renegotiate the present collective bargaining agreement.

Please also read, http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (golf and sports biz, 365 days per year.email--- gregcrawfordbasketball@gmail.com